Academic Success Workshop Series

Our workshop series is open to all students in all programs. The Writing and Learning Strategists (WLS) deliver 75-minute workshops related to academic success (e.g., writing, studying, referencing) that reflect current needs of students.

All our workshops are

  • designed around specific learning outcomes
  • include discussion of key concepts, skills, and strategies
  • have time for hands-on practice activities, questions, and self-reflection

The workshops are intended to give students a broad introduction to academic skills. Many students follow up with a one-on-one appointment with a WLS to get personalized support with these skills for specific assignments as well as to discuss their academic needs and goals more holistically.

We offer the series in the fall and winter semesters, both in-person and online. See the workshops page for current topics, offerings, and registration info.

 

 Faculty members don’t have to shoulder everything on their own. SLS is here to support both instructors and students—help is available, and I strongly encourage colleagues to take advantage of the expertise and resources SLS offers.

Esra Ari, Sociology

How can faculty get students to use this service?

★Encourage participation in workshops with an incentive

Many instructors offer an incentive for participation in a defined number of workshops. We had 2,272 attendances in 2024-2025, and 76% of these students earned some type of course incentive. Beyond incentives, students reported that “attending to learn a skill I need for university” was a key motivator.

A small incentive often gives them enough motivation to follow through. Here are some incentive ideas faculty have used over the years:

  • Offer bonus marks
  • Grant a one-day extension for an assignment
  • Drop the lowest quiz mark
  • Offer the opportunity to revise and resubmit an assignment
  • Round up a student's final grade (if they are on the cusp)

We also offer self-paced learning modules on D2L equivalent to our synchronous workshops for APA and MLA. The links to these tutorials are on the workshops page. Here are some ways faculty have incentivized tutorials:

  • Assign the tutorial as a scaffolded component of an assignment (e.g., APA tutorial as step one in an annotated bibliography)
  • Have students complete the tutorial to be able to turn in an assignment (e.g., MLA tutorial to hand in a research assignment)

How do students show proof of completion?

Students complete a Learning & Participation Google form after a workshop. This learning assessment is designed to take approx. 10-15 minutes to complete. When a student submits their form, they will automatically receive a copy of their answers via email. This email acts as their proof of participation, where you'll be able to read their answers and see what they learned.

★Connect specific workshop concepts to your class

Instructors who explicitly make connections between their course curriculum and SLS workshop concepts before, during, and after enhance students’ process of developing stronger academic competencies. Below are some quick activities you can use to connect our workshop outcomes to your classes.

 

Activity 1

Take 5 minutes of class and have students discuss with a partner their academic strengths and gaps, then have them set a personal learning goal for any workshops they plan to attend.

Schedule 15 minutes later in the semester after students have attended a workshop and ask them to look back at the goal they set. Have them talk with a partner/group about challenges and successes and share how they’ve been using workshop concepts.

Activity 2

Do a 3-2-1 activity. Have students work in small groups and then share:

  • Three workshop concepts/ideas they know well enough to “teach” to other students
  • Two ways to apply a skill/strategy to learning course material or completing assignments
  • One workshop concept/skill they do not understand/want to practice

Activity 3

When introducing a new assignment or preparing for an exam, take 10 minutes to ask students to brainstorm in pairs and share how they would apply specific workshop skills to be more successful.

Activity 4

Share how specific academic skills have been important to your own learning and career. Ask students about the transferability of certain skills to other courses, to their degree, and future career needs.

Considerations when referring students 

Our workshops are offered to all students in any program and year. In-person workshops only hold 38 seats, and online workshops can accommodate up to 100.

  • Select a few, relevant topics and give students the option to choose.
  • Ensure there are multiple sessions of a given workshop before your deadline.
  • Don’t forget the tutorials are also options for referencing help.
  • Tell students if they have attended a topic already, they can go to a different topic. If you don’t, they will assume they have to repeat that workshop.